New England White

In this rich and complex thriller about the sources and uses of power in America, Lemaster and Julia Carlyle, leaders of an African-American elite, are involved (but how, exactly?) in a murder that rattles the Yale-like university, of which Lemaster is president, and the highest office in the United States, of which Lemaster's college roommate (Squinchy to his intimates) is president. Bahni Turpin's voice is gorgeous, and her vocal acting is over-the-top superb. With a flawless ear, she makes the most of the accents, subtle jokes, and speech tics with which Carter peoples a broad canvas full of colorful characters. Her pacing is perfect as the plot, constructed like a dark high-stakes treasure hunt, ricochets from academia to Harlem to the White House. A sensational performance. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Starred review from May 7, 2007
T
wo lesser characters from Yale law professor Carter's bestselling first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park
(2002)—husband and wife Lemaster and Julia Carlyle—take center stage in his second, a compelling, literate page-turner that effortlessly blends a gripping whodunit with complex discussions of politics and race in contemporary America. Lemaster, one of the country's most influential African-Americans, has recently begun his tenure as president of a prestigious New England university. As he and Julia, who serves as a dean in the university's divinity school, drive home one snowy night, they happen upon the corpse of Professor Kellen Zant, a brilliant economist as well as Julia's former lover. The murder threatens to shatter not only the Carlyles' marriage but also the fragile psyche of their precocious but troubled daughter, Vanessa—and may affect the upcoming, bitterly contested race for the White House. Julia proves an unlikely but dogged investigator, who looks beyond the official verdict that Zant was killed in a chance encounter with a robber. In the richness of his characters, both major and minor, and the intelligence of his writing, Carter rivals Scott Turow. Expect another bestseller. 300,000 first printing; author tour.

Starred review from September 24, 2007
Turpin's reading of Carter's second novel is sublime. In a book where each character's race is important, capturing that fact for the ear alone is a balancing act to be taken quite seriously. The story opens with a body found on the roadside by Julia Carlyle and her university president husband, Lemaster (both had minor roles in Carter's The Emperor of Ocean Park)
. It turns out to be an ex-lover of Julia's and a possible blackmailer of Lemaster. What ensues is a gripping tale of race, murder, politics, conspiracy theory and secret societies that revolves around a 30-year-old case involving a dead white girl and an accused, now dead, black attacker. Turpin's prowess in the aural world is apparent, not only when nailing regional accents but in much more subtle ways, like a conversation between two women of roughly the same age who are clearly distinguishable from each other by one's slight smoker's rasp. The story is literate and fast-paced, and Turpin's well-rounded characters keep the fire fueled. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Reviews, May 7).

Carter's brisk, stylish writing grabs the listener's attention immediately, and narrator Bahni Turpin makes the words come alive. The story opens with a mystery--the discovery of a body in the roadside snow. Turpin's performance of the complex plot is at once thoughtful and energetic. She embraces a variety of voices, shifting between genders, accents, and ages with panache. The focus is a complicated but accessible collage of relationships within families, between races, and within communities. Julia Carlyle's character leads listeners through the mystery of the murdered man and explores issues of race and influence in a university town. This audiobook has a story to tell and a great narrator to tell it. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine